Lost amidst the muck of the Jets’ poor offensive performance against the Panthers on Saturday night was yet another handful of eye-opening plays by LaDainian Tomlinson.

The veteran running back, who most assumed would quietly settle into a role as third-down back and complement to Shonn Greene, has been perhaps the Jets’ best player on offense through two preseason games.

This is an oddity, considering the fact that Tomlinson rarely played preseason games at all in San Diego, where the coaches preferred to rest him.

Tomlinson had a 20-yard run on a third-and-13 in the first quarter and finished with 26 yards on three carries. In two games, he has 43 rushing yards on 11 carries while Greene has 36 yards on 11 carries.

“I feel good,” Tomlinson said. “I told you guys all along, when I’m healthy I can perform at a high level and you guys are seeing that I’m healthy.”

Asked about playing in preseason for a change, Tomlinson said he relished it.

“As you can see, I’m having fun playing with these guys,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to play in preseason. When my guys are out there I want to be out there with them.

“Unfortunately, the last few years, the coaches wouldn’t let me play. Now I’m getting an opportunity to play. I think it helps for when the season starts, because it enables you to hit the ground running.”

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The Jets are suddenly inexperienced on the defensive line after backup DE Ropati Pitoitua
was lost for the season when he ruptured his Achilles tendon Saturday night. His absence leaves Vernon Gholston
, Jason Lamb
, Martin Tevaseu
and Matt Kroul
as the main backups on the line.

Keep an eye on the Jets possibly reaching out to Adalius Thomas
, who has played for head coach Rex Ryan
before, can play linebacker or end and is unsigned.

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Ryan put DE Mike DeVito
back into the game in the final minutes. Asked why he reinserted DeVito, who had a sack in that series, Ryan said: “I’m trying to win. We wanted to get fresh rushers in there.”

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DT Kris Jenkins
, who played his first seven NFL seasons with the Panthers, returned to North Carolina to play for the first time since being traded to the Jets three years ago and called it “emotional.”

“I had a lot of fun [in Charlotte],” he said. “It was really up and down. I had enjoyable moments, some angry moments, some enraged moments. I have a lot of history here.”